nd
assail me since he believed himself possessed of the means of ruining
me. He spoke darkly to the King of a woman concerned in this business,
without yet daring to mention Anne by name, and urged him for the
satisfaction of the State, where evil rumours were abroad, to order an
inquiry that should reveal the truth of the affair.

It was Philip himself who informed me of what had passed, sneering at
the wildness of rumours that missed the truth so wildly, and when I
evinced distress at my position, he sought to reassure me; he even wrote
to me after I had left him: "As long as I live you have nothing to fear.
Others may change, but I never change, as you should know who know me."

That was a letter that epitomized many others written me in those days
to Madrid from the Escurial, whither he had returned. And those letters
comforted me not only by their expressed assurances, but by the greater
assurance implicit in them of the King's good faith. I had by now a
great mass of his notes dealing with the Escovedo business, in almost
every one of which he betrayed his own share as the chief murderer,
showing that I was no more than his dutiful instrument in that
execution. With those letters in my power what need I ever fear? Not
Philip himself would dare to betray me.

But I went now in a new dread--the dread of being myself murdered. There
were threats of it in the air. The Escovedo family and their partisans,
who included all my enemies, and even some members of the Eboli family,
who considered that I had sullied the honour of their name by my
relations with Anne, talked openly of vengeance, so that I was driven to
surround myself by armed attendants whenever now I went abroad.

I appealed again to Philip to protect me. I even begged him to permit
me to retire from my Ministerial office, that thus the clamant envy that
inspired my persecution might be deprived of its incentive. Finally,
I begged him to order me to stand my trial, that thus, since I was
confident that no evidence could be produced against me, I should force
an acquittal from the courts and lay the matter to rest for all time.

"Go and see the President of Castile," he bade me. "Tell him the causes
that led to the death of Escovedo, and then let him talk to Don Pedro de
Escovedo and to Vasquez, so as to induce them to desist."

I did as I was bidden, and when the president, who was the Bishop of
Pati, had heard me, he sent for my two chief enemies.

"